The present invention relates to a band wheel on a shuttleless loom for operation of a flexible band for the insertion of the filling by an oscillating movement upon the alternate rotation of the band wheel.
In a shuttleless loom, the filling thread is inserted from one side of the loom up to approximately the center of the shed by means of a gripper which is arranged at the end of the flexible band and the thread is turned over there to a second gripper arranged at the end of another flexible band on the other side of the loom whereby it is pulled over the entire width of the shed. Thus, a band wheel having a flexible band fastened at one end to its periphery is arranged on each side of the loom, whereupon rotation of each of the band wheels with continuously alternating direction of rotation, the flexible band is unwound from the periphery and wound onto it.
Upon each change in the direction of rotation of the band wheel, it must be stopped and then again accelerated so that the length of the flexible band, which depends on the width of the loom, is wound and unwound on and from the periphery of the band wheel. In normal shuttleless loom operations, a wheel diameter of 60 to 70 cm must be designed since a band wheel, which is relatively heavy because of its size, also has a large moment of inertia. In the known band wheels of looms of this type, which are developed as cast spoked wheels, this is a disadvantage and furthermore the manufacture of these known band wheels itself also requires numerous operations which detrimentally increase the cost of the band wheels.